Convertible billiard-table.



No. 650,085. Patented- May 22, |900.

0. F. BARTEL.

CONVERTIBLE. BILLIAB'D TABLE( A licaton ld Dec. 2 1897.)

No. 650,085. Patented May 22, |900. 0. F. BARTEL.

CONVERTIBLE BILLIARD TABLE.

, (Application md Dec. 2, 1897.) (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Fammi jmy. .22, |900.

0.1". BAHTEL. -CONVERTIBLE BILLIABD T,ABLE.

(Application led Dec. 2, 1897.) (NuModel.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

fue MPN@ PETERS so. PND

N'o. 650,085. Patented May 22, |900.

0. F. BARTEL.

CDNVERTIBLE BILLIABD TABLE.

(Appl t nldD 2 1897) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 (No Model.)

Wee, a l' J l V l @www Nn. 650,085..` Patented^.Ma y.:22, |900. 0. F. BARTEL. CONVERTIBLE BILLIABD TABLE.

(Application lvd Dec. 2, 1897.)

` 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

(Nn Model.)

UNITED STATE-s KPn-TEiwr OEEICE.

OTTO F. BAR-TEL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE BRUNSVICK- BALKE-COLLENDER COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CONVERTIBLE EBILLIARD-TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of VLetters Patent No. 650,085, datedrMay 22, 1900.

Application filed December 2, 1897. Serial No. 660,477. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO F. BARTEL, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Billiard and Pool Table, of which the following is a specification. p l

My invention relates to what is commonly denominated a combined billiard and pooll table, which is, more properly speaking, a table which by either the use or disuse of certain parts, in connection with the major portions of the table or by the adjustment of certain parts always attached to the table, may be transformed from a pocket-table into a carom-table, and vice versa, at the pleasure of the user of the table and without the employment of al skilled mechanic and tools to eectuate the transformation. As has been well understood. almost from time im'- memorial, any pocket-table may be changed into a carom-table with the use of tools by a skilled mechanic or experienced setter up of tables and such table put back into its origi` nal condition by, first, the removal of the six originally-applied cushion-rails with their cushions and of the pockets and their irons and the substitution therefor of a set of four carom cushion-rails and cushions, and, second,lby the removal of the latter and the reattachment to the table of the first-named set of devices; but this being a mode of trans` formation or change requiring either that the table be sent to a factory or that skilled workbles and the users of the latter, since such a table, convertible to adapt it to either of the uses mentioned, can be used with profit and pleasure where there may be room to place but one table, and, besides, it can be made to answer all the purposes of atable of each kind` at a small additional expense to the purchaser over the cost of one table of either kind.

Many inventions have been made and patented having for their end and object the accomplishment of this desideratum, among which may be instanced a table adapted to be transformed from a pocket into a caroln and back again by the addition and removal of supplemental cushion-blocks, adapted to fill in the breaks in the continuity of the cushions of a pocket-table when attached to the latter, as shown in United States Patent No. 132,084, of 1872, and also (in an improved form) in No. 226,430, of 1880; also, a table made with bed-rails and separable cushionrails, there being supplied two sets of the latter, which may be interchanged by simply manipulating with` a screw-driver a set of threaded bolts, as set vforth in United States Patent No. 305,463, of 1884; also, a table constructed as a pocket-table, but with eXible end portions of the rubber strips bent to form the jaws ofthe pockets and adapted t0 be unbent or straightened out and backed up by attachable blocks to change the table into one having carom or continuous cushions, as shown in United States Patent No. 386,089,0f 1888; also, a table having a bedrail provided with six permanently-arranged pockets, a set of six cushion-rails, and an interchangeable set of four cushion-rails, each set of rails being attachable to and detachable 'from the bed-rails by means of thumb-screws, as seen in United States Pat.- ent No. 540,405, of 1895; also, a table having two sets of cushions both connected to the table at the same time, but through the medium of mechanism or machinery for adjusting either one or the other in place around about the edge of vthe table-bed, as seen in `United States Patent No. 588,961, of 1897.

In practice, however, none of these constructions of convertible table has given good this has been about the only kind of con1-` bined pool and billiard table made and used IOO 'in thisV country. lI'lhey have, however, never given great-satisfaction, because of the inherent objection, especially to players possessing a moderate degree of skill at the game of carom-billiards, of a lack of integrality in :er a perfect.- cnninuty of the workin-g fases of the cushions-againstwhich thegballsareplayed. This construction has for many years now been on the market in theimproved or most approved form (shown substantially in Patent No. 226,430, of 1880) byseveral Y billiard-table manufacturers; but it has never proven acceptable to those whoaretolerably.- good billiard-players, mainly .for thehreasond above mentioned. I understand that the main reason Why that kind of convertible table cemprising interchangeable sets of lining- `str iprfiprovided with the usual rubber cush- `iens, as seen in Patent N0. 305,463, has never 2o' '/ch'anically) impossible to make a table on this come into use is that it is practically (or meplanin which the cushions will be retained in Vpiace with suiiicient rigidity and will act `prfuiperly and without being noisy The 25 must be held in place on the table-'bed with cushions of the modern, approved, andV acceptable table, especially of a carom-table,

the greatest possible degree of rigidity at all paints, So as to get the requisite and best possible action and at the same time so as to avoid tio` the greatest possible extent all thumping or noise when the cushion is struck violentlyby the ball, and in the kind of table.

,last-above alluded to in which the usual soft-wood lining-strip 'to which the rubber 'cushion is` glued, is secured at its outer vertical side to the vertical contacting' surface `cfarmshion or bed rail, (by a setv of hori-` zontaily-placed bolts,) that in turn is bolted (laterally bolted) to the table-bed, it is practicallyimpossible to obtain the structural requisit'es of solidity and noiselessnes's necessaryin the approved styleof billiard-table. Ingthat species of convertible table in. which a series of pocket-openings are closed up to,

change the table from a pocket to a carom by straightening out the bent end portions Tof the rubber strips, according to Patent No.

386,089,y it is practically impossible to attain satisfactory results, because while in this style of table the working faces or noses of the rubber cushions used'for the carom game theother (main.) portions of the cushion, to

tion, That kind of table shown in Patent lio, 5,410,405 is practically inoperative and useless'fcr lthe reason that the pockets have 1.1.0. pseketfirns,"withi1 which 110 Pockettahle is ,usable and which cannot be em- -ployed inthe construction shown in said patdevices.

ent. That 'species ofV combined pool and billiard table-in which the two kinds or sets of cushions with their rails are permanently connected with the table bed and-body and are adjusted relatively to the table-bed to bring either one. at pleasure, ist@ play, as in Patent No. 588,961, is teo complex and expensive structurally to be of any practical use,

'Y facture, is as efficient for each of the playing purposes of such a table as one made in the mostapproved manner for either one of 'said purposes, and I am therefore enabled by my invention to supply for use at a comparat'ively-small advance overA the cost of either a pocket or a carom table a table adapted to be used for either purpose and which can be easily transformed from one kind of table to the other by any one not a mechanic and without the use o f any tools.

My invention consistsv in the llOvel'structural features-and combinations of devices which will be found hereinafter fully set forth, and which will be most particularly pointed out in the claims of this specification, and to enable those skilled inthe art to make and use tables embodying my said invention will now proceed to" more fully explain the latter, referringl by figures to the accompanying drawings, which form part of `this speci- '.iication, andin which I have shown a table made according to my invention.v

In s aid drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of .a table embodying my invention and illustra-ting the mode of conversion from one type of table to another. I sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through Fig. 2 is a .vertical one of the rails and cushions and its fastening devices. Fig. 3 is a` similar view taken atj a point intermediate of the said fastening Fig. 4 is a detail bottom planview of one of the escutcheons or guard-plates of the fastening devices. Fig; 5is a detail plan view of one corner of the table arranged as a billiard-table. Fig. 6 isa similar view showing the parts arranged as a pool-table. Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of that -portion of the table including: and adjacent to one of the side pockets, showing the parts arranged as a pool-table. Fig; '8 is a detail plan view of one end of one of tlie short rails employed in the construction shown in Fig. 7', which end abuts against the side-pocket iron when in place. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 71 Showing the parts in position to form a caromtable. Fig. 10-is a side elevation of that part of the structure shown at Fig. 9 in top view. Fig. 11 is a plan view of the side-pocket iron and its associated parts, the upper part of the rail being removed.- Fig. 12 vis a side elevationof the structure shown in Fig.`11. Fig. 13 vis a top view of one of the corner-pocket IOS IIO

irons and its associated parts, the upper portion of the rails being removed;` and Fig. 14' is an elevation of the structure shown at Fig.

slabs 23, of slate, that constitute when cov-` ered over with the usual cloth the playingisurface of the table. Y

To the side and end edges rof the bed are securely fastened, respectively, by bolts, as shown, after the fashion of attaching the ordinary cushion-rails of an ordinary billiardtable, side and end rails 24 and 25, each of which, however, has its upper surface flush with the top surface of the bed and is formed with a bottom finishing-strip 26".

27 represents a set of what may be called top rails, that are fastened down on top of the bed-rails by means of thumb-screws, as will be presently explained and which are provided with soft-wood linings 27h, to which are glued in a well-known manner rubber cushion-strips 28 of the approved character,

the construction and combination of parts being such, it will be understood, (see particularly Figs. 2 and 3,) that when the top rails 27 shall be fastened in place the concrete cushion-rail and bed structure will be substantially identical in cross-section with that of the ordinary non-convertible table of .either species-that is to say, as clearly shown atl said figures, when either set of top rails 27 shall be in use they, in combination with what I have called the bed-rails and with the table-bed, will constitute a structure substantially identical with that of a non-convertible table, except that in the latter the two separable sets of rails I have shown are made as one set, the parts of which are either inseparable or integral.

The top rails, carrying the cushions proper,

rail and interiorly threaded to receive the threaded upper end of one of a series of thumbscrews 30, which are arranged in the bed-rails 24 and 25. Each of these thumb-screws 30 (see Fig. 2) vhas its main body portion housed -within a vertical bore in the main portion of the bed-rail, within which bore it titsloosely and is formed or provided with two collars 33 and 34, the latter of which fits loosely within (so that it can move up and down freely vin) the enlarged bore of the supplemental portion or bottom strip 26b of said bed-rail, while the other of said collars bears upwardly against a stop-plate 35, that is secured to the under side or bottom surface of said strip 26h. The plate 35 is formed, as seen at Fig. 4, with a cut-out of the proper size and shape to `perlnit the assembling of the parts shown at Fig. 2, permita free rotation of the thumb-screw, and prevent the latter from dropping down 4too far when out of engagement with the nut 29 by reason of the collar34 coming down onto the said stop or bearing plate 35.

To aid in and assure the proper placement ofthe top rails and their cushions relatively to the bed-rails and table-bed in the use of either set of cushions, I make the bed-rails and top rails with dowel-like interlocking pro- -jectionsand depressions that match into each other, the preferable form of devices being that shown, (see Figs. Sand 1,) a series of spline-like upward projections 38 of the bedrails that engage with or t into a series rf grooves or depressions 39 in the under `sur faces of the top rails. In lieu of this precise construction of the parts some other-as, for` instance, a series of ordinary dowels--may be employed. 40 are the corner-pocket irons,which, it will be seen, are of a novel construction and are combined with the other parts of the table in an unusual manner. Instead of each of said irons being made as usual and having its laterally-projectin g ends bolted from beneath'to the topmost portion of the cushion-rail it is made, as shown, with lug-like projections 41, each located at a level considerably below that occupied by the operative ball-arresting portion of the iron, and so that each lug enters the stock of one of the bed-rails, one being combined with an end bed-rail and the other with a side bed-rail, (see Figs. 5 and 6,) to which it ispermanently bolted or otherwise secured, and said pocket-iron, as clearlyseen, is of'au unusual configuration, such that its upper leathered portion at each side makes a Hush butt-joint with one of the top rails of the table.

VThe side bed-rails are of course made with cut-outs or have their continuity interrupted at the middle portions to accommodatethe IOS IIC

side pockets, just as the corner pockets have each to be accommodated between the adjacent ends of a side and an end bed-rail at each corner of the table.

The end of each side and end top rail of the carom set has its cushion-lining, or the portion 27b on which. the rubber strip 28 is mounted, extended suiiiciently beyond that part of the top rail that makes a butt-joint with the (stationary) corner-pocket iron and isshaped so that when said carom set of top rails is placed in position for use the said cushion-linings and rubber cushions will meet with a ruiter-joint at each cornerof the table, (the same as do the cushions of a non-convertible carom-table,') as clearly shown at Fig. 5, and it will be understood that there- 4 letogoss foreV a perfect carom-table is produced by the assemblage with the main and unchange- Vable parts ofthe table made, as described, of the readily-attachable carom set of top rails.

5V Were the Virons of the side pockets made and arranged as usual in a pocket-table the side rails of the carom set oftop rails could l"not/ jbe applied, because these side-pocket i'r'Ons'muSt, to perform their function as a Io pocket device, be located about Iiush with or v slightly above the level of the topmost part of the top rail. I have, however, by making reach side-pocket iron 42 with two laterallyarranged socket-like depressions and attachingt'o the adjacent portions of the bed-rails two metallic lugs or sh'ort bars 43, with pinftle-like ends 44, that respectively enterthe saiddepressions in the pocket iron electuated a pivotal connection of the said pocket 2o iron with the said adjacent end portions of the two bedrailsas best seen at Figs. 11 and f2, so that when the pocket-iron is in'itsnormal condition or the proper position for use with the adjacent ends of two pocket-table 2 5 topra-ils forming butt-joints with it, as shown, (see Fig. 7,) said pocket-iron will be held Viir'mly in place.

held in place to v resist the concussive action of balls being holed in the pocket mor-ese- 3o curely than is held the usual form of sidepocket iron in a non-convertible pocket-table,

f because it is reinforced at or backed up by` the abutting curved portions of the said top v"rail, asclearly illustrated at 46 on the draw- 3 5 ings, When, however, these two side topy rails 27 are removed, to be replaced by one side,

' carom-rail 27, as shown at Fig. 9, said pocketiron is simply swerving downward (about al 4 quarter-turn) from the normal position (seen 4o at Figs. 7, 11, and 12) into the position shown at Fig. 10, so that only its two end portions 40 are left projecting above the level of the bed-.rails of the table, and by having slight depressions or cut-outs made in the under' su'rface of the carom-rail 27 to 4loosely ac-` commodate these ends 45 the carom-railmay then be properly positioned on top of the bed-rail, as shown, and securely fastened- 6o. the table is shown as undergoing this transformation, the foremost side and the left-handv end pocket table-cushions and top rails hav-` ingbeen taken olf, an end carom top rail hav- -ing been put on, the pocket-iron 42 having v been turned down, and a side carom top rail bei'ngin process of placement in positionby Indeed, it will, I- think, bev

At Fig. 1

the hands of the person manipulating the change, and" it will be seen rthat when the six top rails and cushions are applied the pockettable as to all its operative parts'is' perfect 7o and has both its cushions proper and its pocket-irons as firmly or as rigidly combined with the table-bed as are the corresponding parts of a properly-set-up ordinary pockettable, while at the same time when the four 75 carom top rails are substituted,vas explained,

a pocketless table is produced in which not only are the cushions the same as a perfect non-convertible carom-table, but in which, furthermore, the cushions proper and the rails 8o to which they are permanently attached are"v as firmly or rigidly combined with the tablebed as are the cushion-rails and cushions of an ordinary carom-table of approved construction. It will be understood, of course, that the' table-bed has the necessary cut-outs of a pocket-table at its edges, and it will be seen that when the table has its interchangeable parts set or put up to form the pocketless table the latter will be exactly as eliicient -in all particulars as a table which has been transformed at the factory from a'pocket to a carom by the substitution of one kind for another of cushion-rails such as are used in the manufacture of non-convertibe tables.-

No convertible table has ever heretofore been made that I know of which has as fully or completely and satisfactorily answered the purposes of the skilful billiard and'pool player Io a as myimproved table, and the reason for thisV is that in no prior form of convertible'table have the principle of construction. and mode of operation been such that when changed f from a pocket to a carom, and Vice versa, by the simple manipulations by hand by the user' or owner of rail-securing devices capable of Ybeing' manipulated without the use of tools and by one unskilled in mechanical labor the table of each species was one possessing all no therigidity of union of its parts and all the perfection of action found in the non-con- 1 vertible table of each species.

Of course mere modifications may be made 'in the structural features shown, and many 115 of the details may be Varied from the precise forms I have shown without materially changing lthe novel construction peculiar to my invention, and hence without departing from the latter.

Having now so fully described my invention that those skilled in the art can readily make and use tables embodyingt in either the precse form shown or under some modiication thereof, what I claim as new, and desire to dnary cushionrails of :a pocket-table, but

having their top surfaces, preferably, flush with the playing-surface of said bed; third, -a set of pocket-irons, attached to said bed-rails and adapted to perform, efficiently, the wellknown functions ofthe pocket-irons of an ordinary pocket-table; fourth, two sets of top rails, provided with permanently-attached cushion-strips of anyapproved form; one set being adapted When placed in position for use to perform the functions of pocket-table cushions, in conjunction with the said pocketirons, and the other set being adapted to operate as carom cushions Without coaction with said'irons; and, fifth, means by which, Without the use of tools, or aid of skilled labor, either one of said sets of top rails may be readily attached to, or removed from, the said bed-rails.

2. In a convertible, or combined carom and pool, table, the combination, with the bed; and a set of rails secured to its edge, but extending up only to about the level of the top surface of said bed and not removable for the purpose of convertibility of the table, of a set of pocket-irons securely fastened to said rails and not removable for the purpose of convertibility; and a set of pocket-table top rails having suitable cushions and adapted when placed in union with the other above-recited elements, to cooperate therewith, to produce a perfect pocket-table;. as set forth.

3. In a convertible, or combined carom and pool, table, the combination, with the bed; and a set of bed-rails secured thereto and irremovable therefrom for the purpose of con- Vertibility, of a set of four carom-cushion top rails; and a set of pocket-irons, irremovably connected With said bed-rails the said caromcushion rails, when placed and secured in position rendering inoperative the said pocketirons, and operating in conjunction withthe other above-recited elements to produce aperfect pocketless billiard-table; as set forth.

4. In a convertible, or combined carom and pool table, the combination, with the bed; the set of bed-rails secured thereto, as specified; and a readily attachable and removable set ofcarom-cusbion top rails, of side-pocket irons pivotally attached to said bed-rails and operating to turn down and underlie the said carom-cushion top rails when the latter are placed and secured in position; all substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

oTTo F. RARTRL.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK C. GOODWIN, IRVINE MILLER. 

